


Kryptonian Pride

by drunkraiinbow



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asexual Conner Kent, Asexuality, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Boys In Love, Coming Out, Conner has a lot of questions, Fluff, Getting Together, I love them so much, Insecurity, Jason is a good bro, Multi, Pride, Self-Acceptance, Tim Drake is going to deliver it, Timkon, pride month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 04:32:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19243897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drunkraiinbow/pseuds/drunkraiinbow
Summary: Conner could only smile questioningly in return, shaking the small hand and trying to calm his shit, because his heart felt like it would burst any second the longer he stared into the soft blue doe eyes of the bird-themed vigilante."Conner is just fine," he managed to say and hurried to pull his hand back, wiping his sweaty palms at his trousers. His throat was dry as a desert and his cheeks burned.Maybe he was allergic to birds?Grown in a test tube, Conner has to learn a lot about humans and especially about love.





	Kryptonian Pride

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Flags](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19129132) by [hawksonfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawksonfire/pseuds/hawksonfire). 



> I wrote this sitting in Taizé, because I really needed to write a Pride Month fanfic. It's inspired by a wonderful Winterhawk fanfic called "Flags". Go read it! It's so good!  
> Special thanks to my amazing friends GraySonOfGotham and gavotteandgigue (also my beta)! Love you guys <3

When Conner first came to life, he had to learn a lot. He woke up in a tank, floating in a strange tasting liquid with wires attached to his body and machines monitoring his vitals, some of them even resting in his lungs to help him breathe. He remembered the helplessness, the fear of being unable to move, of waiting blind and deaf and mute for someone or something to save him.

The memories in his head weren't his own and to him, they didn't make sense, not even in the slightest. Foreign languages overlaid each other. Pictures of different places flashed through his mind. Places without light or water, or without darkness but crowded with plants he couldn't name, even though he felt like he should. He saw faces of strangers, white skin, dark skin, green skin. He saw blue eyes and brown eyes and even black orbs without any white in them, but somehow more alive and vivid than others.

Specifically, a man wrapped in a black cape seemed to appear more frequently. Tall and bulky and broad, his face hidden behind a strange cowl with pointy ears, which he frequently took off to smile fondly in his direction. No, not in his direction. Whoever owned these memories had to be the recipient.

Sometimes even, a deep and calming voice made the other sounds disappear. And he enjoyed the few seconds of silence it brought him, the soothing feeling he got by simply listening to it, quietly wishing he could also find joy in the words' meanings.

He learned to understand language when the first words cut through the silence around him. At first, he was stunned to hear another noise coming from outside of his head, assuring him that he was not alone in the void of a tepid liquid. Assuring him that he was not just a puppet floating in nowhere.

But their words didn't calm him.

_We're not sure if he's going to make it. He's in a very weak condition. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to keep him alive._

He knew what they talked about, instinctively. And he knew what their words meant, he knew what they wanted to say. He was going to die if he wouldn't start fighting.

 _I'm alive!_ He wanted to scream at the petty voice and his mind collided with the bars of his invisible cage. _I'm not weak!_

But he couldn't reach between the bars and his lips didn't open, imprisoning the words in his throat. He felt like choking on them. Still, he was determined. He had to fight. They couldn't just let him die, now that he knew he could become more.

Telling his body to twitch had been a desperate journey. His nerves weren't used to carrying signals to his muscles and now he knows, that he was still too young, only a few months old and not ready to move yet. He could feel his body, could feel it grow and grow, and it wouldn't listen to his screaming thoughts.

The voices belonged to scientists, he learned, who were trying to get him stable and ready to comply. He didn't like their objective way of speaking, their impersonal check-ups and the sober explanation whenever they felt like he was not developing fast enough. It was frustrating and he would scream silently, scream at them until his mind would be quiet and the only noise in his head was the strong throb of a heart, far far away from him.

He got better at hearing the longer he rested in the liquid. Voices of billions of people were outside of his prison and he simply had to focus to differentiate between them and follow one around, ignoring the cries and chirps and barks and meows that surrounded them. He could hear wind running through the trees and waves crashing against a distant cliff. And without ever seeing it, he knew exactly what caused those noises.

His favorite voice belonged to the heartbeat he loved to listen to. It was a boy, or a man. He spoke hastily sometimes as if he feared he could forget the rest of his sentence, and Conner could hear the tiredness in his melodic voice. It wasn't as deep as the one he listened to at the beginning, but his words made sense when he talked about sleep and coffee and something called Alfred. Occasionally, he also laughed and Conner's heart skipped a beat when he first heard it, acknowledged by the machines alerting the scientists.

Listening to the stranger, who was more familiar than anything else by then, Conner learned his name. _Tim_. Sometimes it was just Tim, Timothy or Master Tim. Others called him Drake, Mr. Drake, Timbers. Once he even got called Robin. A strange nickname, Conner decided, but didn't question it any further. He felt connected to Tim, and the thought that he would perhaps be able to meet him made it easier to wait to be ready.

Even the scientists noticed the strengthening of his young body. They talked about his stabilizing vitals, about his slow but powerful heartbeat, about the muscles forming under his thick skin and the twitching of his eyelids as if he were dreaming. One eager man even tapped against the thick glass of his tank and tried to animate him. They were pleased with his development and decided to reward him.

He felt like someone was lifting a haze off him as soon as the first ray of sunlight hit his skin and broke through his cells. The scream he had suppressed for an entirety finally emerged from his lips and diffused the water when he opened them. His eyes shot open, sight blurry and focused on too many layers of the lab. Though he was surrounded by liquid, his hands snapped to the tubes disappearing in his nostrils, pulling them out with extraordinary speed, before his fists crashed against the glass.

It cracked. He threw another first at the material, cutting through the water with the speed of a bullet, and it cracked again before it crashed and suddenly, his body was pulled outside and the liquid splashed over the clean floor. A tube was pulled out of his stomach in the process, for food intake as he would find out later. He coughed, tried to fill his lungs with air and swallowed the liquid, but he wasn't afraid anymore.

Angry and fearful yells surrounded him and small metallic beads bounced off his body. It took a moment until he understood that they were firing bullets at him. But they couldn't hurt him. Nothing could. They made him to be strong, to be invincible. And now he couldn't be stopped anymore. Now he was free.

Laughing softly, he took his first deep breath of air, felt his lungs burn and his head clear. He stood up, as he had done it a hundred times before, and within a second he was out of the lab, out of the building, standing somewhere on a cornfield in front of an old farmhouse.

He didn't know how he got there. But he knew he was alive.

 

* * *

 

In the end, he was found by Superman, whose voice was deep and soothing, and was brought to the Justice League. Batman was waiting for them with his pointy ears, and he saw other faces he only distantly recognized.

It took them a while to trust him, but in the end, he got his own name, chosen by none other than Dick Grayson himself, and adopted by Clark Kent. He was Conner Kon-El Kent. Second last son of Krypton, Superboy and a member of the Young Justice.

He got lessons in Kryptonian customs from Clark while Dick tried to show him what it was like to be human. They went shopping, explored the cities and Conner found a style he felt comfortable in. He got his ear pierced, thanks to a strange glowing needle that went effortlessly through his flesh, and cut his hair to a mohawk. The black leather jacket was also slightly modified, with a big red _S_ on the back, matching the skintight leggings and the shirt he wore on missions.

Clark had resigned from his doubts when Conner had gotten his tongue pierced as well and decided to be a cool dad, who supported his son instead. Even though he wasn't his biological son, more like a twin Clark never expected to have, Conner found safety in the very thought. Clark was not always around, but he found ways to stay in contact with him and keep him grounded.

And of course, he was the one introducing him to Red Robin.

Conner had never thought he would meet the boy with the heartbeat that had helped him through his existence in the tank – because you couldn't call it a life, really – in Mount Justice, covered in mud and blood and with strangely twisted gliding wings but a wide smile on his face, shaking his hand enthusiastically .

"Hi! You must be Conner, or do you prefer Kon-El? Dick's told me so much about you! It's so good to finally meet you!"

His beautiful voice chirped through the entrance and Dick's amused laughter could be heard for a moment before he stepped into the zeta tube, right after Clark, and disappeared. The fucker.

Conner could only smile questioningly in return, shaking the small hand and trying to calm his shit, because his heart felt like it would burst any second the longer he stared into the soft blue doe eyes of the bird-themed vigilante.

"Conner is just fine," he managed to say and hurried to pull his hand back, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers. His throat was dry as a desert and his cheeks burned.

Maybe he was allergic to birds?

 

* * *

 

June came and Conner didn't notice the small rainbow badge Tim had pinned onto his Red Robin uniform at first. In retrospect, he should have, being closer to the former Robin than he ever was to Dick, but he didn't. And when he noticed, it was already too late.

He first recognized the change in Tim's behavior, when the black-haired bird came back from patrol, crashing into Mount Justice instead of the Batcave. He ripped the domino mask off his face, startling Connor who had just been staying up late watching random videos.

He tried to ask what had happened that night, but Tim simply shook his head and struggled with his uniform for a few moments, trying to get it off before he just shrugged and sunk down on the couch next to Conner, his head buried against Conner's shoulder.

"Just … assholes," he said and Conner bit his tongue to swallow what he was going to say, simply putting an arm around Tim's small but muscular shoulders.

Obviously, he couldn't let it rest. As soon as Tim was asleep in Conner's bed – the sun was already rising – he unlocked his phone and scrolled through the latest news about Red Robin. He was met with a discouragingly lack of information and groaned quietly.

He checked Twitter, just for the sake of it, but only found a few blurry pictures of Red Robin gliding from a high roof, higher than Conner would have preferred. The comments weren't useful either; rainbow flags and hearts and something that looked like a stroke. Or a broken keyboard.

It took him a sheer entirety to find the article in the end. And it wasn't even a real article, it read more like a column from someone who didn't like anything. He read it twice, trying to understand what they wanted to tell him. Without understanding, he felt his stomach drop.

_WHY WE SHOULD ALL HATE GAY RED ROBIN_

_Recently, the vigilante from Gotham, who goes by the name Red Robin wearing a ridiculous bird suit and a wing cape, shows off a rainbow pin on his costume whenever he's seen around the city._  
_Even on some missions of the Teen Titans, the gay-friendly pin could be seen by minors and very young children, who can be easily be influenced by such reckless behavior._  
_Does he even think about the people he pretends to protect? I don't think so!_

Skipping the next paragraphs and the hate that poured out of every letter, Conner scrolled to the end and bit his lower lip, angrily suppressing the need to smash his phone against the next wall. He didn't know what it was all about, but he could feel the disgust and the rage and just the thought that someone could hate Tim made him sick.

_When the pin should tell you just one thing, that you cannot trust him anymore. He's just a fag trying to play hero, but we all know that homosexuals are no heroes! They are weak and we must stop the disease right now, or otherwise, it will spread. Think about how many people he can reach and infect!_

Bullshit. Conner frowned angrily. Tim wasn't ill. He would have noticed it. He was healthy, very healthy considering his sleeping and caffeine habits, and he certainly would not infect anyone. Conner would know if it were otherwise. They were friends, best friends when he had to name it himself.

For a moment, he just sat on the couch and stared at the bright screen of his smartphone. His mind was blank, his hearing focused on the steady heartbeat of Tim sleeping in the next room. His vitals were normal, nothing suspicious, but Conner could feel the burden Tim had to carry, only because he decided to wear a rainbow pin? Conner had seen rainbows. They were beautiful. Nothing to fear or hate. It was stupid.

When Conner moved the next time, it was to hover over the couch and slowly float to the next exit. He was still dressed in his Superboy gear and wouldn't change into streetwear anytime soon, having no secret identity or public persona. And even then, what would he do with them? He came from a tube, was born in a lab and escaped when he was barely one year old. He had no life to carry on or to protect. He only had his friends.

One of those friends was his destination. It took him less than a second to locate Dick Grayson in Blüdhaven, and just a few seconds more to leave Mount Justice and fly over to him; the island left behind him.

When he came to a stop in the small living room and jumped onto the couch, sitting next to Dick with a bowl of cereals in his hand, the other didn't even twitch. He shoved a spoon of Rainbow Fruit Loops in his mouth, swallowed without chewing and turned his head slowly in Conner's direction.

"You're not Wally," he observed and his lips stayed open, tongue darting out of his mouth to lick some milk from the spoon. "What's on your mind, Kon? Anything happened? You normally just call or let it be."

Dick sounded mildly concerned, but that changed as soon as Conner bit on his lower lip again and forced a few words out of his mouth, not exactly sure if it was okay to even say it. The text had not been very clear about it. 

"What is gay, Dick? Why is it bad to be gay? Is it some kind of disease?"

Dick's face went from disbelief to shock to rage. And when he took a shaking breath for a reply, Conner could hear a sudden unsteadiness in his heartbeat that was trained to stay calm, whatever threat the team was facing.

Conner gulped.

"Where did you hear about that?" Dick asked and put down his bowl, hands slightly shaking, before he turned his body fully, trying to make eye contact.

"Someone wrote about Tim on the internet. Saying he was gay cuz of a pin on his uniform? And that he could infect someone," Conner tried to explain, but felt stupid when he saw the pained expression in Dick's eyes. Why didn't he google it, before making a fool of himself for not knowing how the world worked?

"It's not a disease or anything you can transfer to others. You can't  even manipulate a person into being gay, that's not how it works."

A warm hand wrapped itself around Conner's and he returned the soft smile with a shaky one.

"It's a complicated topic and an issue that Kryptonians don't face, as far as I know from Clark. Maybe you can tell me what Kryptonians think about it, while I try to explain the human version to you," Dick suggested.

"I can try to, but Clark hasn't told me everything about Krypton. He barely knows everything himself," Conner said and tilted his head to the side. "Is it some kind of condition?"

"It's not. You don't have to worry about Tim, he's perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with him. There are just some people who don't accept that there is more than one love," Dick replied.

And then he told him about sexuality. About man and woman loving each other in a romantic way, and the encouragement the heterosexual lifestyle got from religion and conservative thinking. About the belief that God made men and women to love the other sex.

And when he started talking about men falling in love with other men, and women sharing a bed with other women, sexually involved with them, Conner started to understand what it truly meant to be human.

"Of course you can't define sexuality that easily. There are many sexualities and everyone loves differently. But heterosexuality is not the only option you have. Some people are born homosexual and love the same sex, some are born to love both sexes or none, and some are born to love someone's soul and personality, not their body. It can be confusing sometimes."

Dick's hand rested on Conner's and pressed softly against his palms while he tried to process the information. It didn't make sense to him, why someone would be hated because of the person he had chosen to love. He had never once questioned the relationships of his friends and always tried to support them.

For Kryptonians, it didn't matter who you fell in love with. It didn't matter if it was a man, a woman or someone from another planet. Either you loved someone, or you didn't. Nobody would have thought about questioning your decision.

But they also had not needed to bond with the other sex to have children. Their babies had been genetically engineered to fulfill a certain position and role in society. Grown in test tubes and large birth chambers, no sex was needed to conceive them and no mother was needed to carry them.

On earth, it wasn't that easy. Conner could feel the lump forming in his throat when he thought about the differences between the cultures he was surrounded by. Being Kryptonian felt so much more natural to him. But he also felt connected to the humans.

And being around humans meant he had to decide how he felt. He had to find out who and what he was.  

 

* * *

 

"Are you joining us for Metropolis Pride?"

Conner wasn't prepared for the sudden question when Tim sat down next to him and stared at the big screen in front of them, concentration clearly not on the baseball match. Conner wasn't prepared at all.

Of course, he knew what Pride was about. Dick had spent a whole evening showing him pictures and short clips from previous parades, explaining the meaning of protest and visibility to him. He knew what it was about and he supported it, but he still struggled with the topic itself. With the reason, why someone had to differentiate love and make one better than the others. 

"I mean, the Justice League's gonna attend, too. Clark's made this huge float he won't show me, but I bet it's amazing! Even Bruce joins them, can you imagine that?"

"Batman in broad daylight?" Conner snorted, trying to imagine the colorful Justice League on a float with Batman standing on a balcony, all night and vengeance, throwing candies and condoms into the crowd while kissing Superman.

Tim smirked and nudged his shoulder. Their knees touched for a moment and Conner didn't need his Super-Sense to see the beautiful blush in Tim's cheeks.

"I could also get you a matching cape. Y'know, for the float. With your colors. I mean, if you're straight we can always get you a straight-ally flag or something. We already got one bisexual Supes."

"I'm– I'm not straight," Conner managed to say and felt dumb, so dumb to put himself in a box, even if it was the queer box. He was Kryptonian for fuck's sake. He didn't have to identify with human sexuality.

But somehow, that was exactly how he felt.

"It's in two weeks. You still have time to think about it, Kon."

A soft smile was sent his way and warm lips pressed against his cheek, just for a brief moment. He heard the familiar heartbeat speed up, barely noticing that he was holding his own breath.

"I'd love to have you with me."

 

* * *

 

He was in love with Tim.

It hit him like pure Kryptonite. Of course, he was in love with Tim. All the sweating, the awkwardness sometimes and the stupid stuttering of his heart whenever Tim smiled at him.

Sometimes, when Tim had touched his skin, he could feel the slender fingers on him for hours, almost like a ghost. Other times, he would specifically listen to his steady heartbeat or calm breathing over at Wayne Manor to calm himself and to make sure that Tim was safe.

In a battle, it was always Tim's voice he focused on to stay in control of his powers, and when they were finished Tim was the first hero he checked for injuries. He was worried about his bird, so worried that he had never noticed the strong feelings he held for his friend.

It was Dick, who broke it to him.

"Dude, you're whipped," he told him and for once, Conner didn't disagree.

"He kissed me."

"Oh, boy. Oh, dear boy. Tell me everything. When did it happen? What did you feel?"

Dick was excited, to say the least. They were sitting on a roof over Blüdhaven, fast food between them, relaxing for a moment. Batman's No-Metas-Rule wasn't covering Blüd so he felt safe visiting his friend and helping out on patrol. And he could never say no to a picnic under the full moon.

"You're rambling too much, babe," Red Hood said and passed his half-eaten burger to Dick, stealing some fries instead. "Take your time, Conner. And don't tell him everything."

It wasn't uncommon for Jason to join them. He was a bit more serious than Dick and had more than once tried to kill him, but as far as Conner knew, a few people shared the same experience and still called Jason family.

It was also not uncommon to see Jason lean into Dick's space and steal a soft kiss from the vigilante's lips, snickering when the older man almost choked on the bite he was just swallowing. Maybe that was why he had never thought about human sexuality. With Jason and Dick, it always seemed so natural.

Conner just smirked and let his gaze wander over the city below them, still wide awake and never completely asleep. He could see why Nightwing had chosen the city for himself. She was a wild circus of dreams and nightmares dancing together. You could be nothing and everything at the same time.

"Tim wants me to join Metropolis Pride," he began and the smirk disappeared from his lips. Tim wanted him to finally find a label for himself, he should have said instead.

"Oh, that's sweet. He was afraid to ask you. He obviously knows that Clark and you don't care about sexuality the way mortals do, but he's still crushing hard on you."

Dick grinned and didn't even care that he had just told Conner a secret. He was certain Tim didn't mean for him to know about any crush, but Dick seemed to feel pretty good about sharing it. Jason only rolled his eyes.

"He said he wants me with him at the parade. And just for the record, he hasn't like kissed me on the mouth. Just on the cheek!" Conner hastily added and blushed when Dick waggled his brows suggestively.

"So innocent. I can't wait for more to happen between my favorite lovebirds," he chirped and leaned against Jason's wide shoulders, eating the last bite of his burger with a satisfied grin. "You two are making eye sex with each other since the first day."

"Dickie, I'm trying to enjoy those fries. They are very delicious," Jason interrupted his boyfriend and sent a pitiful smile Conner's way.

Conner flashed him a brief smile in return and shoved his cold cheeseburger down his throat in one single gulp to satisfy his growling stomach. A few fries followed before he washed it down with the coke Jason had ordered with the menus.

"I don't know if I should join him or not," he confessed and wrapped his arms around his legs, knees pulled against his chest. "Kryptonian love doesn't work like that. We don't see a boy and be like oh I must be gay."

He sounded frustrated and Jason shot him a smirk, clearly enjoying his misery. He was a true friend.

"So you're gay."

"I don't know," Conner replied and groaned softly against the worn material of his skintight pants. "Maybe?"

Dick offered him a sympathetic smile and reached over the food to take his hand, cupping it with his strong palms. Years of acrobatics had left their marks.

"It's not that complicated," Dick told him, tilting his head to the side. "Do you like men?"

Conner nodded.

"And what about women?"

"Not really," he offered slowly.

Jason simply snorted and leaned forward, squinting at Conner. Conner felt a shiver of embarrassment running down his spine under the intense look of Jason's blue-green eyes.

Jason's voice sounded commanding, like an alpha's and Conner winced obediently.

"Not really or you don't like them?"

"I don't like them," he replied again, surprised how firm his voice sounded. He looked from Jason to Dick, who smiled mischievously and shook his hand.

"Then you're gay," he announced solemnly before turning his attention to the leftovers again, moving on from the subject.

Conner watched him devouring a second burger and feeding Jason with cold fries. His head was still spinning, now more than ever. Gay. That was what he was. He was gay. A gay Kryptonian Superman clone. At least not bisexual like the real Superman – at least something he had for himself.

But there was still something he couldn't wrap his mind around. And he didn't feel like asking Dick or Jason for a solution. Because–

"Hulu and fuck after patrol, Dickiebird?"

 

* * *

 

"You don't have to wear a flag, you know that? You're not forced to find yourself a label, Kon."

Tim was standing next to him in the kitchen, staring at the coffee machine. His mug was still resting in his hand, the machine was already grinding the beans. He yawned.

With a soft chuckle, Conner wrapped his hand around Tim's slender fingers, pushing them forward until the cup was safely placed under the machine. Seconds later, the first drops splashed into the mug and the scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the air.

"Thank you," Tim said quietly and used the opportunity to lean against Conner, his head tiredly resting against his shoulder. It was quite early for little birds, almost 7 PM, and Conner was used to the additional weight by now.

Since their first kiss (on the cheek), Tim had searched out his presence more frequently. He snuggled up to him during movie nights on the couch, hugged him randomly after missions and Conner had found him more than once next to him under the blankets in the morning.

He liked it, though. Since he had found out about his feelings for the young vigilante, he had enjoyed his company even more. And the few innocent touches they shared were wonderful, but when he thought about what else they would share in a relationship, he was insecure again.

"I like men," he blurred out and bit his tongue, silently cursing his stupid mouth for not having a filter from his brain.

Tim raised his head, blinking in confusion but with a sweet smile on his lips. His arms found their way around Conner's waist and with another, happy yawn, his head rested against his shoulder, again.

"Oh. That's good."

Conner stayed silent for a moment, holding his breath while he slowly returned the embrace, holding the small body tightly.

"And I really like you."

His voice sounded raspy and breathless, but he could feel Tim's lips twitching into a soft grin through the fabric of his shirt. This time, Tim didn't lift his head.

"I like you, too."

And Conner would have loved to just be silent and enjoy the love he could hear in Tim's voice while he held the shorter boy in his arms, but he needed to be true to Tim, and to himself.

"But the thing is, I don't know whether they've fucked me up in the lab or I'm just broken," he slowly explained and put a hand on Tim's chin, softly raising his face so he could see the bright eyes. "I don't want to have sex with you, Tim."

He prepared himself for incomprehension and disappointment, for yells and punches, for insults, disgust and rage. But Tim was an angel. He blinked again, staring into Conner's eyes, and raised his hand to softly cup his cheek.

"That's okay as well."

Conner frowned, couldn't quite believe it.

"It's not just you," he tried to explain, "it's everyone. I wouldn't want to have sex with anyone."

"And that's okay, Kon. It really is."

"But how can I be gay, when I don't want to have sex with you?"

Conner wasn't aware that he had raised his voice until Tim sweetly shushed him and squished his cheeks in his hands, raising his brows reproachfully.

"There are words for that, Kon. And there are other people feeling the same way. There's nothing wrong with you. You're not alone. And you're certainly not broken."

"But you would never have–" he tried to make sure but had to stop when Tim's hand covered his mouth.

"Love and relationships don't define themselves over sex. It's about caring for each other, about sharing time and gestures, about being together. We don't need to have sex, Kon."

His eyes connected with Conner's, looking at him with a serious frown now, taking a big load off his mind.

"You're okay with it?" Conner asked for the last time, he promised himself.

"I am. Absolutely. Now lemme get my coffee."

And with that, the warm hands disappeared from his cheeks and connected with the filled mug, pulling it out of the machine. Then, Tim took a small sip and sighed peacefully.

Conner kept his arms around the boy's waist and closed his eyes, holding him closely, and nuzzled his nose into his hair, taking a deep breath of Tim's scent and a nicely flavored shampoo. He could've died instantly and still been the happiest man in the universe. Timothy Drake liked him, no matter what his sexuality was.

For a while, they stood together, leaned against each other, and Conner listened to the small gulps Tim made while drinking the hot liquid. His mind was almost blank for once with only Tim spooking around in his head and the tiny circles he was absently drawing on Conner's wrist. Conner could have stayed like that forever.

A small clink told him that the cup was back on the counter, probably waiting for a refill and he began to loosen the embrace when a sudden feeling of warm lips against his own made him blink in confusion.

"Kisses are good, or should I stop?" Tim whispered against his lips, keeping his eyes closed. "I won't do anything you don't enjoy."

Conner smiled and leaned into the kiss.

"Shut up and kiss me again."

 

* * *

 

Flying over the parade in the streets of Metropolis as Clark's wingman was amazing. Tim had organized a new leather jacket for him, painted it black, grey, white and purple, and attached the rainbow pin from his Red Robin uniform to his collar. Next to him, Clark's cape was covered in pink, purple and blue, proudly showing off his bisexuality. 

They both had made an entrance from one of the buildings, dropping dead to the ground before shooting up in the sky again, flying loops and small figures. Conner could hear the wild cheers and the enthusiasm radiating off the crowd and hovered over a few girls for a moment, winking at the sight of their rainbow flags.

A few hands shot up to touch his hands as he turned his head around and took in the overwhelming scene, still not believing that he could be part of it. Thousands of flags were raised into the air and waved at him. He saw the sea of rainbows on jewelry, shirts, capes, shoes, skin, hair – everywhere around him until his gaze was locked onto the small flag a boy was waving shily amongst the people.

Their eyes met and suddenly he could see the tears forming in his wide eyes, taking in the colors of his jacket and the pin. A single tear managed to roll down his red cheeks before Conner was already in front of him, not thinking anymore, just acting when he opened his arms and welcomed the younger boy in a soft embrace.

"You're not alone," he heard himself repeating the same words Tim had told him. He hadn't quite believed him that day, but standing in a mass of cheering people who came to celebrate the life he started to finally see it as well.

Amazed whispers were shared about him, and whenever someone leaned to their friend to tell them they were ace, too, he felt his heart swell with pride.

"I believe in us," he told the boy and raised his arms to wipe away his tears. "We are valid."

Behind him, the float in form of a rainbow cloud with detailed paintings of the Justice League members slowly made its way through the parade and followed a whole group of dancing people. The bisexual Nightwing was involved in a heated kiss with the abrosexual Red Hood, who had abandoned his helmet for a moment and stuck a small flag into his leather jacket.

Wonder Woman and the Flash were both joining Clark in the bisexual team, supported by Hal Jordan with a pansexual flag. On the other side of the float, Cass had changed her purple cape for a non-binary one and was in a tight embrace with Batwoman.

Even Batman had left his cave for once. He was dressed in black as usual, but Clark had kissed him more than once during the last hour, making sure that everyone knew the Dark Knight wasn't straight either. And Arsenal was wrapped in a straight-ally flag.

When Conner started to hover over the crowd again, Tim was standing on a pedestal, rainbow-colored gliding wings of his Red Robin uniform proudly spread. Raising his hands in the air, his eyes flickered to Conner and a smile spread across his lips while they formed silent words. 

 _Come and kiss me_.

With a chuckle he shot into the air, aiming at the colorful bird. Their bodies collided, their arms wrapped around the other's waist and it was only thanks to Conner's ability to fly that they didn't crash to the ground.

Conner should have been able to hear the cheering crowd behind him, but when their lips locked and their eyes closed he could only hear his own blood rushing through his veins and Tim's calm heartbeat, so confident in his whole being that he felt every doubt melt away.

He was so fucking in love with his messy bird.

For a second, they parted and Tim looked up in his eyes, eyebrows raised questioningly again, voice low and full of affection.

"Proud to be part of this after all?"

Leaning into another kiss, Conner pulled him closer and smiled widely at the pride-sparkling boy.

"I am."

**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me on [tumblr.](https://drunkraiinbow.tumblr.com/)


End file.
